


The Gauntlet of an Afterlifetime

by ETNMystic



Category: Escape the Night (Web Series)
Genre: Agony, Feels, Mentions of Blood, Mentions of Death, convulsions, never forgotten, old rivalries resurface
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-13
Updated: 2019-06-13
Packaged: 2020-05-02 11:04:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,668
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19197493
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ETNMystic/pseuds/ETNMystic
Summary: (I got this idea at like 3 in the morning and wrote it down)They've spent 3 years in a 1920s bar and hotel.They've spent 2 years in a Victorian mansion.They've spent 1 year in a town with a never-ending carnival.But now eight of them will be called back to an All-Era Gauntlet for the most coveted prize those stuck in Purgatory can possess; A second chance at life.





	1. The Not-So-Roaring Twenties

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> (CW: Mentions of various death methods, convulsions.)

On the outside wall of a 1920s bar and hotel lies a plaque. And on this plaque is encarved;

_Bear you all witness to those who come near._

_Let's summarize the fates of us who reside here;_

_Shane Dawson not immune to a poison of choice._

_Andrea Brooks lost in the gas her voice._

_Justine Ezarik's body lies six feet deep._

_Glozell Green's wig the spirits shall keep._

_Sierra Furtado now a demon's prey._

_Matthew Haag was defeated by the poison at bay._

_Timothy DeLaGhetto with a bullet in his skull._

_And Lele Pons who the electrics made null._

_~~A~~   ~~full~~   ~~Two~~ Three years it's been since we arrived.  
_

_So if you do enter, you'll know who's inside._

* * *

June 11th, 2019.

At least, that's what it should've been for these eight souls. 

Instead it was eternally the 1920s. No cellphones, no wi-fi, nothing. All this afterlife held for them was drinking, darts, playing cards, and if they were unlucky, reliving their deaths over and over again. 

Shane Dawson dealt out the first hand of the day. Occasionally he would feel a pain in his throat, but it would subside after about 15 minutes. He learned it was a symptom of being dead, mostly when the dead person was a murder victim. 

"So what are we playing today?" he chuckled, trying to keep the mood up.

Andrea Brooks coughed, gasping for air, but it wasn't out of the ordinary for her. This would happen on occasion. She'd learn to afterlive with it. 

"I mean.....I guess  _Go Fish,_ " she shrugged.  
"Anyone have any objections?"

Lele twitched.

"You don't wanna play?" Glozell asked, still tasting blood in her mouth, trying not to let it drip out.

"No, I do," Lele groaned, trying to restrain her convulsing soul.  
"It's just those cards are getting worn down."

"You can say you don't want to play," Justine responded with a sigh as she put her hand to her forehead. She would experience bouts of claustrophobia every now and then, but her main symptom was this dull aching in her body, as if a heavy weight was being pushed against her. She was told when she arrived that there was a lot of dirt on top of her and it was tightly packed. 

At least she wasn't Timothy, who had constant migraines on the left side of his head. He described it as feeling "like there's a bullet being shot in my skull over and over again." Poor guy. As much as she despised him for wanting her to get buried alive, she couldn't help but feel terrible about his fate. Especially since he competed against the two survivors. 

"We're all pretty miserable with this," she continued as she mindlessly tossed a pair of dice around in her hand.  
"The afterlife isn't always as great as it's cracked up to be. I thought there'd be a party."

"When did they say they were coming to collect us?" Sierra wondered as she, too, attempted to restrain her convulsions. 

"Who knows?" Matt sighed as he felt the burning in his throat.  
"Maybe they just lied to us after we all arrived here."

"Would they do that?" 

Tim shrugged, trying to ignore the pain in his skull.

"I mean, I wouldn't put it past this 'Collector' lady. She seems to want us to fall into deep despair."

"The twenties also wasn't really the best time to be in anyway," Shane shrugged off.  
"A lot of poverty and shit."

"I can't take this. It's driving me insane!" Justine yelled, banging her fists on the table and standing up, pacing the floor.  
"All we do in this place is sleep, drink booze, play cards, and talk. We've been repeating that cycle for the last THREE years, people. THREE. YEARS. Of this!"

She wildly gestured around the bar. 

"I swear, if Joey's done this with other friends in other time periods, they were probably stoked to die if they knew it wasn't the 1920s they were dying in. They're probably having the time of their lives!"

"You don't know that," wheezed Andrea Brooks.   
"They could be just as miserable as us, maybe moreso."

"Sure," she sighed in frustration.  
"As if THAT'S possible. I need a miracle."

All of a sudden, there was a knock on the door of the bar. All eight of them turned and gasped. 

"You.....you guys heard that too, right?" Lele wondered.

"Y-yeah?" Sierra shivered.

"That's.......odd," Shane pointed out.  
"Who the hell would want to speak to us? Matter of fact, how would they know we're here?"

"No one's supposed to know we're here," Matt trembled.

They stood in silence until Lele nudged against the aforementioned.

"Go get the fucking door, Matt."

"What? Why me?"

"Why not?"

"You get the door!"

"I'm not getting the door---!"

"Okay, you babies," Tim moaned, stopping the ensuing argument.  
"I'll get the door."

Like the mobster he was assigned to play, he strode up to the door and opened it up.

"Oh hey," he greeted suavely.  
"It's you again."

He moved to the side to reveal the telegram woman from 3 years ago. She stepped in with a smile on her face.

"Telegrams for Mr. DeLaGhetto and Miss Ezarik."

Tim groaned as she handed him his telegram.

"Am I being ensued? In the afterlife?"

Cautiously, Justine took ahold of hers.

"Well," Glozell asked.  
"Who are they from?"

Justine searched the envelope, but there was no indication of any return address. Flipping over to the front, she gasped as she saw the seal.

"Shane," she said, showing him the letter.  
"Why would the Society be sending us letters?"

"I have no fucking clue," he shrugged.  
"I haven't kept up with them in years."

"For God's sake, just open it already!" Lele practically shrieked.

"Okay, okay!" the two replied irritated.

Ripping them open, they pulled out their telegrams. As soon as she saw the purpose of the message, Justine almost screamed in joy.

"Oh my God!" she squealed happily, the happiest she'd felt in the last three years.  
"Is this for real?" 

"Yeah-heah!" Tim called out excitedly.  
"Your boi's goin' back in!"

"Wait what?" Sierra exclaimed in disbelief.

"Read it!" Lele gasped.  
"What's it say?"

Justine's hands trembled as she read the telegram aloud.

_MISS EZARIK STOP_

"That means it's a period, by the way," Matt clarified.

"NO ONE CARES WHAT IT MEANS!" Lele screamed annoyed.

She turned back to Justine.

"Keep reading!" she squealed like an excited school girl.

Justine cleared her throat and continued.

_MISS EZARIK STOP_

_THIS IS A CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR WIN STOP_

_YOU HAVE BEEN RANDOMLY SELECTED AS ONE OF EIGHT AMONG THE DEAD TO BE A COMPETITOR IN AN ALL-STAR GAUNTLET STOP_

_SHOULD YOU SURVIVE YOU WILL BE BROUGHT BACK TO LIFE STOP_

_YOU WILL BE GIVEN A NEW ROLE TO FIT THE ERA STOP_

_THIS IS IN EFFECT IMMEDIATELY STOP_

_THE SOCIETY AGAINST EVIL STOP_

"Wait, wait, wait," Sierra stammered.  
"So you're saying.....you could actually be revived?"

"That's what mine says as well!" Tim commented ecstatic at the news.

"But why not the rest of us?" Glozell complained.  
"It said eight and all of us are eight."

"It was a random lottery draw. Miss Ezarik and Mr. DeLaGhetto were the two chosen randomly by the Society Against Evil as competitors from this era."

"Wait," Andrea gasped, turning to Shane.  
"That's the Society you mentioned in your note. Does....does that mean--?"

"Okay, wait, so who's set up this lottery?" Shane asked in disbelief.  
"Because I know the Society would never do it unless someone pleaded with them."

"The call for an All-Star Gauntlet was made by one Joseph Graceffa," the telegram lady announced.  
"And, as an added bonus, for those whose participants survive the game, they will be given the freedom to commute to and from other purgatories as they wish until the collector comes for them."

Justine couldn't believe her ears. One, she had a chance at coming back to life. Two, there were other friends who had partaken in this little game Joey set up. And three, JOEY wanted to bring them back? The more she thought about this, the more emotional she was becoming.

"Wait, so it says 'in effect immediately,'" Timothy piped up.  
"Does that mean---?"

"I'll give you a few minutes to say your goodbyes," she smiled.

The girls crowded around Justine who was a happy, sobbing mess. 

"This is so amazing," Justine blubbered.

"You're gonna do awesome this time!" Lele encouraged her.

"Get out there and show them what they're made of," Andrea told her.

"We love you, and we'll be proud of you no matter what happens," Sierra assured her, enveloping her in a hug.  
"And even if you both lose, we might get visitors from other purgatories! So we all win!"

"Let your voice be heard, honey!" Glozell cheered.

"Thank you so much, girls!" Justine wept excitedly.  
"I promise I'll do my best."

Meanwhile a bro-hug was taking place around Timothy.

"I can't believe this is for real!" he breathed.

"I can't believe it either," Matt gasped excitedly.  
"The odds of this happening are infinitesimal!"

"NERD ALERT!" Lele yelled from the other group.

Matt rolled his eyes. He was in a good mood, so he was fine with letting her little remark slide this time. 

"This hasn't happened in so long," Shane exclaimed in disbelief.  
"Go out there and kick some ass."

"Oh, you bet I will!" Timothy laughed. 

Andrea came over and surprised Tim with a behind-the-back hug.

"You're gonna be awesome!" she cheered.

"I'm gonna miss you, though," he chuckled a little sadly. 

Andrea Brooks was one of his closest friends. It'd really suck if he would never be able to see her again. But still this offer was tempting. EXTREMELY tempting.

"We should get going," the telegram lady announced.  
"Also, as a present from the Society, we would like to leave you with these."

She pulled out small devices in the shape of mobile phones.

"You can use these to communicate with the dead from the other purgatories."

"Can we use it for social media?" Lele asked desperately.

"Only for MySpace and Vine."

"Great, the dead social medias," she sighed sarcastically.

"Wait, so there's no YouTube?" Matt exclaimed in horror.

"Only the YouTube that was before Demonetization. You may also use it to call the Society, should you have any emergencies."

"Can we get some real food?" Lele begged desperately.  
"Please? We haven't eaten in 3 years!"

"I'll be sure to have it sent here."

"Wait, how are you getting past the Collector?" Shane wondered.

She simply gave him a wink before turning to Tim and Justine.

"Are you ready?"

The two looked at each other and nodded.

"Let's do this," Justine exclaimed, pumped for the chance of an afterlifetime.

As the group got out their final goodbyes, the two stepped out to see the car that drove them to the mansion 3 years ago.

"Um, is my wallet in there?" Tim wondered.

"I'm not sure," the telegram lady shrugged as she opened the door.

"Where are we going exactly?" Justine hesitated as she slowly slid into the back seat. 

The telegram lady stepped into the passengers' seat. The driver was a ghost dressed as a newsboy.

"There's a lobby for the dead to convene and meet with one another. You'll meet the others there."

"But who else IS there?" they both asked.

The telegram lady winked as the engine roared to life. 

"You'll find out when we arrive." 

And just like that, they drove off.

 


	2. Never Forgotten

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> (CW: Rage, feels, more mentions of pain)

Outside of a Victorian mansion, on the wall, is a plaque. And on this plaque is encarved

_Bear you all witness to what took place here._

_Let's look at the endings of lives held so dear._

_Lauren Riihimaki, her mind confused and foggy, became the vampires' tasty treat._

_Jesse Wellens met a spider woman and soon he became her meat._

_Destorm Power, right upon the hour, lost his life to a glowing arrowhead._

_Liza Koshy, filled up on sweets, messed with the rules and ended up dead._

_Tana Mongeau, didn't you know, betrayed by those with too much pride._

_Gabbie Hanna, determined and persistent, lost her heart to a robot bride._

_Alison, there'll not be another one, gave her life to a werewolf to save a guest._

_Alex Burriss, the last one through this, stabbed with a dagger straight through the chest._

_It's been_ ~~A~~ ~~ _full_ ~~ _two years since we arrived._

_Now you know what we saw, would you still come inside?_

* * *

June 12th

  _Joey, Joey, are you there?_

_This your chance to make things right._

_Please. We need you, come save us._

Liza could still hear that desperate message, the one she sent to Joey Graceffa roughly a year ago, with the help of a crystal she'd found. A year after she and seven others became stuck in a Victorian purgatory. Every day that passed with no word from him, her hope drained away. There was already that stinging pain that went across her neck. She didn't need the emotional damage to add on to it. 

Unlike the first group, however, there WAS quite a bit that they could do. There was a study where Alex spent most of his time. Liza made it a habit of exploring the grounds outside. Tana could lead them between the two dimensions. Lauren found herself most drawn to the automaton lab below. Jesse and Destorm hung out and chatted in the harem room. On her better days, Gabbie would get a few of them together and perform small skits in the ballroom. It was basically a recreation of the mansion they had all died in. The only thing was that it was constantly nighttime and they all felt this strange sort of emptiness inside of them.

Though for Gabbie, that went double. She had a phantom sensation of a hole inside of her chest round the clock and she also had a sort of emotional emptiness, a sort of ennui, as Alison described it. Liza couldn't help but feel terrible for what the poor girl went through. In fact they all suffered in some sort of way. Lauren was afflicted with fainting spells, presumably from the low blood supply her soul had. On top of it, she would feel pinpricks all over her body every so often. Jesse had a constant aching in his neck and shoulder. Destorm suffered from chest pains. Tana felt this stinging slash across her stomach. Alison felt the stinging of being mauled. 

But if there was any of them she felt the worst about, it was Alex. Atop his constant chest pains, he was full of so much sorrow that he often locked himself away in the study, composing poem upon poem about his agony. It got to a point where he was shut up in there so much, he accidentally neglected Lauren, who promptly broke up with him one day; however this only served to fuel his sorrow, and as such, the poems became more constant and just as full of despair ~~(Junko Enoshima has entered the chat)~~. In spite of how consistent it was, Liza couldn't really blame him. He nearly escaped with Andrea and Tyler, but when it came to the final challenge, he lost and just.....gave up. He told her no one else was able to escape their fate, and she never had the heart to tell him that Andrea escaped hers with the werewolves. In fact no one did, including Gabbie, quite literally. All he did nowadays was sleep, write, maybe eat, use the restroom, and repeat. It was getting to a point where they were beginning to see a slight rut forming between his bedroom and the study. 

But tonight the rest of them were convening in the parlor. Alison had gathered them there, claiming she'd had a feeling that things were about to change. However that was hours ago; they were beginning to lose faith in her intuition. 

"Are you sure about this?" Gabbie sighed, feeling ever so empty, but had been a little less so after Alison had gathered them together.

"I'm fairly certain," Alison replied without hesitation as she paced the parlor.

"How can you be so sure, though?" Tana wondered, trying to ignore the sting in her abdomen.

"I just am," she insisted. 

"Okay, but we've been waiting for two whole hours," Lauren pointed out, wincing as the pinpricks came back again.  
"The only thing that's changed for us is the time, and even that's something we can't be sure about."

"Change doesn't come right away, though," Liza piped up, in an attempt to remain hopeful.  ~~(Junko Enoshima has left the chat. Nagito Komaeda has entered the chat.)~~  
"Maybe she's right. Maybe things are about to change."

"And how exactly do you propose they shall change?" Destorm wondered cynically.  
"We've been here nearly two years and nothing has changed. What in purgatory could possibly change?"

"I mean, there's that lady who said she'd come to collect us," Jesse reminded them as he downed a bottle of beer in hopes of dulling the pain in his neck and shoulder, his feet up on the table casually.  
"Maybe she's coming tonight."

"I certainly hope not," Alison worried.

An angered scoff emerged.

"Oh my fucking God! What's so scary about this woman?" Tana interrogated irritated as she stood up.  
"For the past two years, every time we've brought her up, you get super antsy and snappy. That's not like you. So what the fuck is up with this 'collecting' bitch?"

"It's a long story," Alison sighed.

"It'S a lOnG sTorY" Gabbie mocked, before practically yelling, even more angrily than Tana, and this shocked everyone.  
"I've had enough of that bullshit excuse from you! If it's such a long fucking story, then what better time to tell it to us?"

Fuming the Vaudevillian marched over to the fidgeting vampire princess and glared her down.

"Calm down," Alison replied firmly but softly.  
  
"Don't you DARE tell me to calm down," Gabbie shrieked, making Liza think of the harpy that took her life.  
"Every time we ask about her, you tell us it's a long story! Unless a miracle somehow walks up to that front door right now, then maybe you should just admit that your intuition is wrong this time, and tell us the goddamn story about her!"

As if on cue, they heard a knock on the back door and they all jumped.

"Holy fuck, what was that?" Gabbie gasped.

"I think.....someone just knocked on our door," Lauren replied worriedly. 

"I thought no one was supposed to know we were here," Liza pointed out in concern.

"They're.....not," Alison realized, suddenly getting very protective.  
"You all stay here. I'll go talk to them."

"I was in the army," Jesse piped up.  
"I could help you fight them off."

"Thank you, but if this is who I think it is, I don't believe army training will stop them."

She cautiously marched into the hallway and looked through the window. Sighing in relief, she opened it. The visitor marched in to the hallway and then into the parlor, carrying four envelopes with a strange wax seal on them.

"Your presence is most urgently requested," she announced as she entered the parlor, her voice as smooth as silk.

"Hey! It's you," Destorm pointed out.  
"Still looking like a medieval girl scout." 

"Medieval girl scout?" Liza wondered.

"It's the woman who delivered our letters," Tana reminded her. 

"Wait, there are only four of them," Lauren remarked.

"Who are they for?" Alison asked the lady.

"I have a letter for a Mr. Burriss, a Mr. Power, a Ms. Mongeau, and a Ms. Hanna."

She held the four envelopes out like a hand of playing cards. Destorm smirked as he strode on forward.

"Mr. Power," he chuckled as he snatched the envelope from her hands.  
"I don't think I've ever truly realized how commanding that name sounds until this moment."

"I'm Ms. Mongeau," Tana piped up nervously.

The woman handed her her letter.

"I'm.....Ms. Hanna," Gabbie hesitated as she took hers.  
"That just sounds weird."

"And Mr. Burriss?" the lady wondered.

The group glanced at each other.

"He's........preoccupied," Liza covered as she held out her hand.  
"I can take it to him."

"I do apologize, but the recipient must be the one to take it first. If you must, please lead me to him."

Awkwardly, the explorer drew back her hand.

"Oh, okay," she replied.  
"He's, uh, he's in the study. This way."

As they walked towards the door in the parlor that lead inside of the study, the group couldn't help but feel anxious. Alex was usually sorrowful nowadays, but there were days where he'd also get snappy, and it was difficult for the group to tell if this day was one of those days. No one had spoken to him since yesterday. Ever one to take initiative, Liza stepped forward and gently knocked on the door.

"Alex?" she called.  
"It's Liza."

"Go away," a melancholy voice commanded half-heartedly.

"I can't," she replied.  
"Someone's got a letter for you." 

They waited several long, excruciating moments before finally hearing a groan and slow, sluggish footsteps. They heard the click of a lock and the turn of a handle. The door slowly opened as Alex popped his head out, his eyes seemed to have constant dark circles under them, his eyelids halfway down made him look as though he was constantly tired, and his red eyes and tear-streaked cheeks made it clear that he'd been composing more poetry, as if the floor being lined with thousands upon thousands of tear-stained papers hadn't made it clear enough.

"A letter?" he sighed sadly, before realizing what he just said.

His face contorted into confusion.

"Wait. How is that possible? We have never gotten letters in Purgatory."

The lady held out his envelope and he cautiously took ahold of it before retreating back into the study, shutting and locking the door. They could hear him tearing open the seal and withdrawing the letter. This moment became even more excruciating and painful.

"What if it's bad news?" Lauren moaned.  
"That's only going to make things worse."

"That boy needs a place to put all of those poems," Tana remarked as she began fanning herself with her envelope. 

"Yeah, in the garbage," Destorm scoffed.

"Hey," Liza piped up.  
"Don't diss his writing. I've read a few of the poems. They're pretty good."

"How were you able to read them?" Jesse asked in astonishment.

"I've snuck into the study a few times after he's gone to sleep."

"How didn't he hear you through those papers?" Lauren stammered.  
"Those poems must reach up to your---!"

But she didn't finish. Because from the other side of the door, they heard a loud and wild cheer. From Alex. The once-sorrowful poet flung open the door, a smile of disbelief on his face. 

"What is it? What is it?" Tana pestered him excitedly.

"Is this for real?" he gasped the lady.

She merely smiled and gave a single nod of the head.  With that he began jumping up and down, whooping and hollering.

"What is it?" Tana demanded.

"I'm going back in!"

"Are you serious?" Gabbie gaped in disbelief. 

Then she looked down at her own letter and immediately tore off the seal as did Tana, while Destorm took his time.

"What's it say?" Lauren asked excitedly.

Gabbie read aloud.

_To one Miss Gabrielle Hanna,_

_We wish to congratulate you, for you have been selected as one of eight participants in the Society Against Evil's All-Star Gauntlet for a chance to be brought back to life._

At this she stopped and blinked rapidly, her mouth open in shock, before turning to the lady.

"This is a joke, right?" she asked, her voice squeaking slightly.  
"Is this a prank?"

"This is no jest, Ms. Hanna."

"Are you serious?" Gabbie squeaked with joy.  
"Like, is this 100% legit?"

"Oh my God!" Tana squealed before dancing around the parlor singing.  
"I'm going back in! I'm going back in!"

"What does the rest of it say?" Jesse urged Gabbie.

"Calm down," she giggled.

_This game shall be placed in a different era than your previous game, meaning that you shall be receiving a new role; these changes will be in effect immediately._

_All the best to you,_

_The Society Against Evil._

After reading this, Gabbie screamed in joy. The emptiness in her chest disappeared. 

"I'm gonna get a chance to live again!"

"As am I," Destorm replied calmly.

However his face betrayed him. He was absolutely ecstatic. THIS was the chance of an afterlifetime. If he won this game, he could see his friends, his family, his kids again! He missed them so damn much. But as Gabbie and Tana embraced each other squealing excitedly, jumping up and down, he and Alex made eye contact with one another and both of them had the same thought.

_Oh God. Not this guy again._

The two glared at one another and the tension thickened as they stepped towards one another. For the first time in two years, Alex felt a raging passion fill him. 

Their chests were barely touching one another as they stared each other right into the eyes.

"So we meet again, old enemy," Alex snarled.

"As to you," Destorm growled so coldly that a winter chill practically brushed around the room.

"Don't even think for a second that I'm gonna go easy on you," Alex snapped, trying to intimidate him, ramming his finger into his chest.  
"I'm going all the way to the top this time, and no one's gonna stop me, especially not you."

Ever the stoic Slytherin he was, Destorm was unfazed for the most part.

"Don't think I'm going to go easy on you either," he announced with the air of the railroad tycoon he embodied two years ago.  
"I may have lost to you once, but I'm NOT going to lose to you once more. This time, it shall be I who will go all the way to the top. And when we get in to this game, I'll make CERTAIN that you are the one to die first."

"Is that a threat?"

"I would consider it to be more of a promise."

"Well then," Alex smirked as he held his hand out.  
"Game on, old foe."

Destorm took and grasped it.

"Game on, indeed."

He pulled back instantaneously as they both stepped back slowly, still staring down each other.

"How did this get set up?" Alison wondered.  
"The Society doesn't normally do these."

"This was from one Mr. Joseph Graceffa."

Liza was in disbelief.

"Wait," she blinked.  
"Joey Graceffa?"

"Indeed."

"Wait, so 'in effect immediately,'" Tana pointed out.  
"Do you mean we're going right now?"

"I'll give you a few moments to say your goodbyes. However before I do, the Society has given these to you as presents."

She held out a set of old-fashioned-looking phones.

"You may use these to communicate with residents of other purgatories. And should at least one of your four win the game, you will be able to travel to and from other purgatories as you wish. These can also be used to contact the Society should you come across any sort of emergency, including necessary supplies."

"Like food?" Lauren asked.

The lady nodded again.

Most of the girls gathered together to say their goodbyes, but Jesse just stood between Alex and Destorm. He gave them both thumbs-up.

"Good luck, you two," he replied quickly before retreating back to the couches where he quickly downed his beer.

"I'm so happy for you!" Lauren squealed to Tana and Gabbie as she enveloped them in hugs.  
"You're gonna do amazing! Don't you think so, Liza?"

Liza looked up from the floor and made a noise of confusion.

"Huh? Oh yeah," she replied less than enthusiastically.  
"Amazing."

Even Alison was smiling, but her tone still held an air of caution.

"Both of you be careful," she told them.  
"You may have a second chance, but your lives are still on the line."

"We'll be fine," Tana assured her.

"Oh, Alison," the lady piped up as she approached the vampire princess.  
"There's something else."

She handed another envelope to Alison, who placed it in her jacket pocket, before whispering something into her ear. Once she was done, she turned to the others.

"Are you four ready?" 

"Hell yeah!" Tana replied enthusiastically.  
"Let's go!"

The five of them walked out into the hallway where the lady lead them out the back and to the carriage that had brought them to the mansion. But meanwhile, Lauren noticed that there was something off about the usually-bubbly and optimistic Liza.

"Hey," she asked gently.  
"You okay?"

"Yeah," Liza replied bitterly without making eye contact.   
"Couldn't be better."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes," she snapped slightly before shaking her head.  
"I just.....I need to be alone for a moment."

Powerwalking up the stairs, as tears streamed down her face, she slammed her bedroom door and barricaded it shut. Rage began to fill her. Why hadn't she been chosen to come back? Was it Joey's choice or was it random? 

"Sure," she hissed infuriated.  
"Take the shady ones. Give them a chance to come back. Forget about the one who told you to come save us in the first place!"

She flung a pillow against the wall as she flung more shit against the wall and door.

"I was waiting for nearly a year, Joey. A YEAR. I told myself that you'd come get us all eventually, I kept thinking you wouldn't have forgotten about me! I kept thinking you cared about me! I kept thinking you never wanted to betray me."

She was practically screaming at this point. 

"BUT CLEARLY I WAS WRONG!"

After throwing some more things around, Liza flopped on her bed and covered her face with her pillow. All of a sudden, there was a knock on the door.

"Go away," she called.

But not a few seconds later, part of her got curious and eventually won out. She moved her barricade away and opened the door. There was Alison.

"What do you want?" Liza sighed.

"Is it alright if I come in?" she asked sympathetically.

"I don't care," Liza shrugged stepping out of the way.

Alison walked inside and took a look around the room. 

"I've been....doing some rearranging," Liza lied as she flopped on the bed.

"I know you're upset that you weren't picked," Alison stated sympathetically.  
"She told me that it was a random lottery, and those four just so happened to get picked."

"Yeah," Liza scoffed cynically.  
"'Just so happened.' That's a laugh."

"Joey hasn't forgotten about you, you know?" she told her.

"You don't know that," Liza snapped bitterly.

"I do," Alison asserted gently as she reached in to her coat pocket.  
"Amelia told me to give this to you after she left."

"Amelia?" Liza asked confused.

"The lady who delivered the letters."

Nodding, Liza cautiously took the letter. She saw her name written in familiar handwriting.

"Who's it from?" she asked.

Alison didn't answer. Shrugging, Liza flipped the letter around. There was no wax seal on it. Instead it was a sticker of a wolf. A crystal wolf. Caught halfway between hope and anger, she gently opened it up. Inside was a letter along with some pictures. She decided to read the letter first, to herself.

_Liza,_

_If you're reading this, chances are you've found out that you didn't get picked. I swear to God, it wasn't my choice. If I had it my way, you'd get a chance as well, but it was a random lottery. I'm so sorry that the odds weren't in your favor. I also want to tell you t_ _hank you so much for contacting me about coming to save you. I was so happy to hear your voice again, truly. God, I miss you so much, I can't think of enough words to describe just how much it hurts that I might not get to see you again. If I was standing in front of you right now, I would grab you in a hug so fast, I'd probably knock the wind out of you. I love you so much._

_With that said, I want to explain something that I wish I was able to tell you two years ago; I never meant to send you into the Baking Room challenge to die. I sent you into the challenge because I believed in you and your persistence. I still believe in you and I always will. I believe that, even though you may feel upset about this now, you'll be able to keep up the morale of the others during this whole damn gauntlet._

_I know that, with half of the group gone, it will get rather lonely, but you have a unique aura about you. You're able to brighten up any room you enter and make just about anyone feel better. That's not something a lot of people can do, and it's a trait in you that makes a world of a difference. I know that we can't see each other now, and that breaks my heart, but I have a feeling that one day, I'll be able to hug you and hear you tell your jokes again._

_You'll always be in my thoughts and I send you my love._

_Sincerely,_

_Joey Graceffa <3_

Liza covered her mouth as her eyes welled up with more tears. She looked inside the envelope and pulled out the photos. Of Joey and Daniel, of their huskies, of the two of them, of so much more. She was so overwhelmed with love and guilt.

"He never forgot about me," she squeaked.  
"He never stopped caring."

She turned to Alison and nearly leapt into her arms as she wept with joy and regret. Only seven words, two single sentences lingered in her mind.

_Thank you, Joey. I love you too._

 

 


End file.
